The author is a Forbes contributor. The opinions expressed are those of the writer.

Loading ...

Loading ...

This story appears in the {{article.article.magazine.pretty_date}} issue of {{article.article.magazine.pubName}}. Subscribe

League of Legends Art | Image: Riot Games

For a free-to-play multiplayer game based on a Warcraft 3's Defense of the Ancients mode, Riot Games' League of Legends is enjoying some extraordinary success. How successful? The infographic below reveals some startling numbers which may leave you gobsmacked. Based on hours played per month (and according to Riot's research), League of Legends is the most played video game in the world.

To cast aside your doubt, consider this: It has more daily players than Instagram has daily visitors. At its peak, Blizzard's World of Warcraft had 12 million subscribers; League of Legends has 32 million players monthly. Last Friday, 650,000 gamers were concurrently playing the top 100 games on Steam. Meanwhile, there were 3 million playing League of Legends at any given time on a typical day in July.

At its most popular point, Activision's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 had an impressive 3.3 million daily players. League of Legends sees 12 million.

Microsoft's most successful game franchise -- Halo -- has enjoyed more than 2 billion hours of gameplay since 2004. League of Legends averages more than 1 billion hours of play per month. Oh, and those 35 million active LoL players are quickly approaching Microsoft's 40 million Xbox Live subscribers.

League of Legends is also bolstering the popularity of eSports. Riot Games offered $5million in tournament prizes during its 2nd season of tournament play (the winner is crowned tomorrow in Los Angeles). The company is even instituting salaries for certain Season 3 players.

Below is the infographic in full. Sure, League of Legends is a free-to-play game, but it's also big business.